Lazarus Chakwera welcomes State House probe
President Lazarus Chakwera has reportedly welcomed the decision by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to investigate allegations that State House paid Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe more money than was required for the accommodation of some foreign nationals who were in the country to train some security officers.
The social media has recently been awash with documents that indicate that K65 million was paid for the accommodation of the foreign nationals with some quarters arguing there was fraud involved in the transactions.
Following the reports, ACB said it was interested in the matter and that it would investigate it.
And in a brief interview yesterday evening, Presidential Press Secretary Brian Banda said the allegations and the impending investigations came to the attention of the President who has welcomed the probe.
“It has come to the attention of the President that the allegations of abuse of funds at State House will be the subject of an inquiry by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. As such, the President welcomes and supports this investigation by an independent law-enforcement agency as the best way to separate facts from fiction on the basis of evidence, so that Malawian people can be assured of the truth from an objective perspective that is free of interference from interested parties,” Banda said.
Initially, Crossroads Hotel’s management had dismissed the allegations that it had received payment from State House before reportedly withdrawing the statement and indicating that it had received a K12.5 million cheque from the same client.
